Alma 1:17
Because of Alma’s ruling those who practiced priestcraft had to at least pretend to believe what they taught because there was no law against a person’s belief, but if they did not believe what they taught they could be punished as liars under the law. They wereprobably very meticulous in recording donations so they could not be punished as thrives if they were accused of stealing. Nehor had served as a very vivid example of how the law would be carried out because he was killed just as the law prescribed for murderers.